STATS 1000 - Statistical Practice I

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2016

The course information on this page is being finalised for 2016. Please check again before classes commence.

Statistical ideas and methods are essential tools in virtually all areas that rely on data to make decisions and reach conclusions. This includes diverse fields such as medicine, science, technology, government, commerce and manufacturing. In broad terms, statistics is about getting information from data. This includes both the important question of how to obtain suitable data for a given purpose and also how best to extract the information, often in the presence of random variability. This course provides an introduction to the contemporary application of statistics to a wide range of real world situations. It has a strong practical focus using the statistical package SPSS to analyse real data.
Topics covered are: organisation, description and presentation of data; design of experiments and surveys; random variables, probability distributions, the binomial distribution and the normal distribution; statistical inference, tests of significance, confidence intervals; inference for means and proportions, one-sample tests, two independent samples, paired data, t-tests, contingency tables; analysis of variance; linear regression, least squares estimation, residuals and transformations, inference for regression coefficients, prediction.

Statistical ideas and methods are essential tools in virtually all areas that rely on data to make decisions and reach conclusions. This includes diverse fields such as medicine, science, technology, government, commerce and manufacturing. In broad terms, statistics is about getting information from data. This includes both the important question of how to obtain suitable data for a given purpose and also how best to extract the information, often in the presence of random variability. This course provides an introduction to the contemporary application of statistics to a wide range of real world situations. It has a strong practical focus using the statistical package SPSS to analyse real data.

University Graduate Attributes

Required Resources

Moore, McCabe, and Craig - Introduction to the Practice of Statistics (8th Ed).

Online Learning

This course uses MyUni exclusively for providing electronic resources, such as lecture notes, assignment papers, sample solutions, discussion boards, etc. It is recommended that the students make appropriate use of these resources.

Learning & Teaching Modes

This course relies on lectures as the primary delivery mechanism for the material. Tutorials supplement the lectures by providing exercises and example problems to enhance the understanding obtained through lectures. A sequence of written assignments provides the assessment opportunities for students to gauge their progress and understanding.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.

Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.

Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Component

Weighting

Objective Assessed

Assignments

25%

All

Exam

70%

All

Online quizzes

5%

All

Assessment Related Requirements

An aggregate score of at least 50% is required to pass the course.

Assessment Detail

Assessment Item

Distributed

Due Date

Weighting

Assignment 1

Week 1

Week 2

4%

Assignment 2

Week 2

Week 4

4%

Assignment 3

Week 4

Week 6

4%

Assignment 4

Week 6

Week 8

4%

Assignment 5

Week 8

Week 10

4%

Assignment 6

Week 10

Week 12

4%

Online quizzes

End of each week

Week 13

5%(total)

Submission

All written assignments are to be submitted to the designated hand-in boxes in the School of Mathematical Sciences with a signed cover sheet attached. Late assignments will not be accepted. Assignments will have a two week turn-around time for feedback to students.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)

Grade

Mark

Description

FNS

Fail No Submission

F

1-49

Fail

P

50-64

Pass

C

65-74

Credit

D

75-84

Distinction

HD

85-100

High Distinction

CN

Continuing

NFE

No Formal Examination

RP

Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.